"...out of love for Rhyme, she sacrificed herself, stalling time for Rhyme to run away from the zombies"
"And that's the end of the story of Aisha, the greatest mage!"
"Bullshit!"
I suddenly blurted what's in my head, it startled Grans a little but he didn't mind it.
I am tired of these stories, every single time, when the protagonist is about to reach greatness, someone would appear out of nowhere just to ruin what they built.
He patted my shoulders and said something.
"I know that the story of Aisha ended as a tragedy, but you must know, not all stories end in a happily ever after..."
"Grans, all of your stories ended in a bad way..."
"..."
"When there's traitors involved, everyone's life are at risk, not even prodigies are spared" Grans gestured strictly.
Ever since I was a child, he would always tell a story of the forgotten heroes. He said, they were forgotten through time and killed by traitors even before they had a time to shine.
Trish the Honored, Aston the Ballad, Christoph the Reaper... All of them helped the ancient humans to grow and survive to the present. Yet when I look them up, none of them are real, not even a single document of them living exists.
People called Grans a madman, a crazy person who spreads fake stories, but I believe in him, not because he's my grandfather, but because of his passion.
"This is my last story for you, I have nothing left to tell anymore. I hope my stories will be your guide, never make the same mistakes as they did"
Grans hugged me tightly, it was almost suffocating but I could feel the love and care behind it.
He then reaches for his pocket and draws a Platinum coin.
[You have received 1000 SP]
"Thank you Grans!"
With my daily allowance received, I left the house.
"Yorui, you're late! Did your crazy grandpa tell you a made-up story again?"
As soon as I stepped out, I heard a familiar voice that made my ears hurt. It is Florek, my teammate and closest friend.
"Grans is not crazy and his stories are good for a made-up one!" I rebutted.
"Well if you insist, but today's a special day, did you even prepare yourself?"
This question breaks my mind, I totally forgot that today our squad will be having a rank re-evaluation. A chance to be promoted to a higher rank.
Florek saw the change of my face, he cheered me up a little.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I carried you in performance!" He said as he made a cheeky face.
In this time and day, SP runs the survivability of humanity since the Age of Extinction. Most of the things you need in life can be found and purchased through SP.
Need food and medicines? SP! Need a heavenly massage? Rent a fairy by SP! Oh you need personal power? Buy stats by... You guessed it, SP!
But as the most valuable currency, SP also suffers from monopolizing. Guilds and big families use their large numbers and powers to pressure the masses.
Though a silver spoon fed like me never ran out of SP thanks to the unquestionable wealth of Grans, I know the importance of SP and never spend it on useless things.
Florek is a talkative person, he always has a story to tell like Grans, therefore it was not boring as we walked to the guild office.
When we reached our destination, the rest of our squad was already there.
"Late!" A red haired bombshell shouted as she looked at us.
It was our squad leader Maybee. She's always stoic and always looks angry, but she was a great and caring leader. Her class is Pyromancer.
What is a class you may ask? It is the byproduct of Armageddon. According to the history modules, at the initial stages of Armageddon, an energy appeared out of nowhere that gave native organisms of Franzia superpowers. They call this energy 'Mana'.
Later, someone Frengu or something figured out that Mana can be contained and controlled by humans rather than harnessing it from the surroundings and it is the birth of class users.
My class is a Necromancer, I am currently at the Unique rank, which is the fourth highest rank a class achieves.
Florek's class is a Lightbender, currently at Unique rank as well.
Besides Maybee, the other squadmates didn't react overly, maybe it's because they were accustomed to our behavior of being late.
Maybee didn't waste much time and dragged me and others inside. The receptionist inside immediately recognised us when we came in and guided us.
"Maybee!" Inside of a special room, a well dressed middle aged man greeted us. He awkwardly hugged our leader and gave us a handshake.
"So, your squad again applied for rank advancement this year" His demeanor changed from a hippy man to a serious one.
"It is very fantastic to see your squad 'Rallius' rise at a rapid rate over the years. But I am a lawful person and I do not play favorites specially for inexperienced squads like yours"
The man reaches something under his desk, it is papers.
"Let's see, Rallius' squad cleared a total of 2762 missions this year. 1068 of them are D rank missions, 766 C rank, 693 B rank, 220 A rank, and 15 S rank missions. You also cleared 19 ruins, defeated 7 other squads from friendly skirmishes and saved a total of 577 NPCs from danger zones"
"That statistics alone is more than enough to raise your squad rank, as an additional thanks for being so loyal to our organization, I would increase your rank to..."
* * *
"Adamant rank!"
"Cheers!"
"Yay"
The whole Rallius squad was totally having a good time, even me, a conservative person, was drinking beer at this special occasion.
Our squad just ranked up from Aquamarine rank to top Adamant rank. It jumped over Turquoise and Aquamarine ranks which were the hard stuck ranks of other squads.
"Everyone!" Maybee, our esteemed leader attracts the attention of the squad and other peoples as well.
"I would like to use this time to announce our MVPs of our divisions, they had the most contribution and outstanding performances in this year. Without them, we wouldn't be at our state now!"
"For the best Support, Darlene! Because of her healing abilities many people, NPC and other members are saved"
"For the best DPS, Sharko! Without him, we will have a hard time dealing with bosses and other meaty enemies"
"For the best Crowd controller, Yorui! His abilities helps us navigate along the ruins and control waves of enemies"
"For the best..."
Maybee announces the members' contributions one by one. Even though our squad only has 21 members, she values everyone and respects our specialities to the core.
This night is one of the best nights I've ever had in my life. This night will never be never forgotten...
***
When I came back home, it was already deep at night. I was a bit drunk from the celebration, but I managed to get home safely.
"Grans I'm home!"
"..."
I was greeted by silence and darkness. Usually, Grans would be awake till I got home, drinking tea while reading one of his old books.
This is different from what I'm used to, maybe it's one of the perks of growing up, gaining more freedom. Or maybe Grans needed more time to rest given how old he is.
I lit up the house on my way to my room, but then I noticed something wrong, the living room was empty of any furniture.
Seeing this, my drunken attitude became sober, my eyesight widened. I rushed immediately to Grans' room hoping he's alright. When I reached his room, he wasn't there either, only a small old model watch and a small piece of paper remained.
I quickly activated my mana detection. This is a kind of trap that is commonly used today for kidnapping. It usually works for some people, but I'm not one of them. I am trained in this kind of situation to be cautious and alert of surroundings.
Unfortunately or fortunately it isn't a trap. When I picked up the things, I noticed there was a note written on the paper.
-------------------------
Dear Yorui,
If you're reading this, I'm already gone. I am not dead, Only far away. And don't bother to find me because you need to find yourself first.
I thank you for being by my side all the time and giving me the experience of being a grandparent even for a short period of time. My disappearance is nothing to do with you, rather it is to make you safe.
The watch that you were holding right now is a Temporal watch, for what is it, you have to find it yourself. Just click the 'Start' button whenever you're ready. Remember all the stories I've told you, they will be of great help in the future.
I'm giving you a great power to change history forever. Something your father failed to do so.
Best regards,
Grans
---------------------------
"Grans...." Tears flowed down to my face. He was my only living relative, my mother died when I was young, I had no siblings and my father mysteriously disappeared when I was born, now Grans also left me...
I read the letter multiple times and it was in vain, there's no clues or important words to decode. The only thing specified was the old watch.
The watch itself is very ordinary, I've detected no mana engravings nor enchantments, just a plain watch.
Clank!
In my tinkering, I heard something akin to a flipped switch. There was no visible change to the watch other than a 'Start' screen appearing.
That's the moment I knew I fucked up...